O Anel de Lepage

(Der Ring des Nibelungen: encenação de Robert Lepage, Met Opera House - Setembro de 2010)

A nova produção de Der Ring, que o Met estreou a 27 de Setembro, tem ocupado consideravelmente espaço neste blog - vide aqui e aqui. Eis, em jeito de derradeira antevisão, uma súmula do trabalho de Robert Lepage. Neste endereço, poderá encontrar belíssimas fotografias desta mise-en-scène.

«(...) the Met calls the most complicated production ever put on its stage: a new Wagner “Ring” cycle that involves a leviathan set, scenery almost entirely based on intricate computerized projections and a few age-old theatrical techniques.

(...)

The exceptionally strong “Rheingold” cast includes Bryn Terfel as Wotan, his first time in the role at the Met; Stephanie Blythe as Fricka; Eric Owens as Alberich; Gerhard Siegel as Mime; Wendy Bryn Harmer as Freia; Patricia Bardon as Erda; Adam Diegel as Froh; Richard Croft and Dwayne Croft, who are brothers, as Loge and Donner; Franz-Josef Selig and Hans-Peter König as the giants Fasolt and Fafner; and Lisette Oropesa and Tamara Mumford as the two other Rhinemaidens.

James Levine, the Met’s music director, who conducted every performance of 21 “Ring” cycles at the house, said he was optimistic about the production and cautioned that early rehearsals for the first installment were too little on which to base a complete judgment.

“What I especially love is when I saw the very first pictures, models, the very first attempts,” Mr. Levine said of Mr. Lepage’s concept. “There was one thing very clear: He was going to tell this story. He wasn’t looking for an exterior allegorical gimmick. I’m thrilled with the fact that he is trying to use everything in his imagination and at his disposal to tell this story.”

(...)

The production creates a fascinating anomaly. The opera house is one of the few places left where audiences can regularly hear pure human voices unmediated by electronics. Yet those voices emerge from a haze of electronic magic. All the technology threatens to overwhelm that simple endeavor in the Lepage cycle.

“All those effects are subtle,” Mr. Lepage said. “You really have to keep an eye on them. You can’t overwhelm.”

He added: “Between these coups de théâtre, there are hours of people singing to each other. It’s very intimate.” The singers will be close to the pit, on the apron before the big set.

Mr. Levine, the music director, acknowledged that he was concerned early on that the technology would not serve the piece. But he added, “So far what we’ve got up there with ‘Rheingold’ is looking very good to me.”

None of the leading singers interviewed expressed worry about being overwhelmed by the technology. As it happens, the set is said to provide loving acoustics.

Ms. Blythe agreed: “The set is extremely friendly to the voice. It’s a big resonating chamber.”

The projected scenery, she said, was simply another language for the audience to get used to.

“It’s all very new, and it’s a new experience for all of us,” she said. “But you know, it’s all theater, man.”»